If you have a cold and can't take anything I'd suggest lots-o saline gargling and neti-pot action and some Vics-vapo rub slathered under the nose. I'd say take loads of garlic and vitamin C but maybe that wouldn't make breast milk taste so good so I don't know about that.

BUT....since we're sharing breast feedin' stuff I will say this. I breast fed both my children and I hated it. I didn't know until I was about 1 month into breast feeding my 2nd that I had a breast deformity ( tuberous breasts ) that made breastfeeding a huge issue. One breast did not produce milk and the other produced a limited amount. I supplemented and drank the tea and fed on demand and did everything you're supposed to do and it did not get better. I did not know about this deformity until I did some research trying to figure out how to increase my supply. I was very pro breastfeeding and did not consider any other option before I had children. When I did encounter problems the shame and the guilt that went along with having to supplement with formula was huge. I wish there was some way to encourage mothers to give it their all to 1st try breastfeeding, without the shame and guilt associated w/ not being successful. I would not give my kids a bottle in public because I did not want to be "that mother" that didn't breastfeed. I felt horrible and guilty and isolated. If you're having trouble for whatever reason and you've tried everything you can think of, like others have said on this thread, you are no less of a mother for giving your baby a bottle of formula.Caring for an infant is hard enough without feeling the judgement of others for your choices. Yay mommys!!! That's all I have to say about that. :)

Greenie-Bfing hasn't always been easy for me, but i blessedly haven't had the problems you and so man others have had. Thanks for reminding me yet again how hard it is not only emotionally, but physically for some people. I think its awesome that you didn't just give up completely when you had trouble, i think that says so much for your stamina and fierce love and determination. It sounds like what you went through might be similar to what Aubade is dealing with now. I am amazed at how common this is.

As for garlic and vitamin C making the breast milk taste bad- i eat garlic as often as possible, as well as cabbages, and any other strong tasting foods i feel like eating and i figure i am exposing my son to tastes. Now, we eats lots of things other babes don't touch and i think that the 'previews' may have helped. Oh, and i never knew him to turn down the boob, no matter what i had been eating.

Thanks for sharing your perspective, greenie. I agree with jildez: that you tried so hard for so long to breastfeed shows what a caring mama you are. Having a loving, conscientious parent is more important than breast vs. bottle!

My mother is horrified that I continue to eat beans, cabbage, broccoli, and spicy food. Last night I had spicy chana aloo with Pakistani mango pickles! Mmm! Walter's tummy seems okay, and he's getting exposed to lots of tastes.

(I saw a hot Latina breastfeed on the monorail at Disney World many years ago)

DisneyWorld is like the land of breastfeeding! Last year when we went, sometimes I would go to a bench to nurse Silas and find another woman nursing her baby there too. I was the only american I saw nursing though. One woman that I ran across a few times was so awesome, she'd just throw her whole top down and get comfortable, just the way I would at home, no matter where she was. I wanted to cheer. Another woman came up to me on our last day and said She just had to tell me how happy it made her to see babies getting breastmilk, especially in public and at his age (he was about 18 months), and went on and on about how she wished she had been so confident while her kids were babies. <3 I live in a really rural place, where it's super rare to see anyone nursing or even know anyone nursing past a few months, so this was huge for me.

I use a Medela Pump in Style, which seems like it's pretty hefty. I tried getting up before poopiebaby and I used breast compression (thanks for the video!) and I got 1/4 of an ounce in 30 minutes between both breasts. I, too, have one breast that is much smaller and produces much less milk, so the majority of that came from the 'big' one. I think I'm going to have to give up trying to pump, because it is really making me feel like a failure.

I've been using the Tommee Tippee bottles, which are supposed to be a lot like the breast, but I will try something different! I was wondering about trying a sippy cup - has anyone had luck with a 6 month old drinking from a sippy?

greenie wrote:

I was very pro breastfeeding and did not consider any other option before I had children. When I did encounter problems the shame and the guilt that went along with having to supplement with formula was huge. I wish there was some way to encourage mothers to give it their all to 1st try breastfeeding, without the shame and guilt associated w/ not being successful. I would not give my kids a bottle in public because I did not want to be "that mother" that didn't breastfeed. I felt horrible and guilty and isolated. If you're having trouble for whatever reason and you've tried everything you can think of, like others have said on this thread, you are no less of a mother for giving your baby a bottle of formula.Caring for an infant is hard enough without feeling the judgement of others for your choices. Yay mommys!!! That's all I have to say about that. :)

Thank you for sharing your story, greenie! I agree, we as mothers need to support each other, not judge. There is enough guilt and pressure that goes with being a mother, we certainly don't need yet more because of how we choose to feed our children.

I will say that I do understand the isolation, though. Like others, women where I live just don't breastfeed, so when I nurse in public I get a lot of looks and even some people saying rude things. I was even at Starbucks one time meeting with a friend, I was BFing (with a nursing cover on!) and my husband was sitting on the other side of the cafe. He told me later that one guy started talking about how gross it was that I was breastfeeding in public, and the other people around joined in talking about how I should go home if I had to do that, or just pump and give him a bottle if I'm going to be in public (I wish it were that easy!). Thankfully I've gotten a few supportive comments over the months, too, which make it easier to handle the stupid stuff.

I was even at Starbucks one time meeting with a friend, I was BFing (with a nursing cover on!) and my husband was sitting on the other side of the cafe. He told me later that one guy started talking about how gross it was that I was breastfeeding in public, and the other people around joined in talking about how I should go home if I had to do that, or just pump and give him a bottle if I'm going to be in public (I wish it were that easy!).

It's not like you were pooping at the table! Good grief! Grow up, people.

My mother is horrified that I continue to eat beans, cabbage, broccoli, and spicy food. Last night I had spicy chana aloo with Pakistani mango pickles! Mmm! Walter's tummy seems okay, and he's getting exposed to lots of tastes.

this is so cool! i love the idea of exposing babies to many different flavors! i've been reading a lot about how much what we eat while pregnant and breast feeding affects what kids will eat later on. it's so funny that people freak out about people eating things like spicy indian food. they don't think about the fact that in India moms would be eating Indian food!

_________________I am not a troll. I am TELLING YOU THE ******GOD'S TRUTH****** AND YOU JUST DON'T WANT THE HEAR IT DO YOU?

Yep the lc I've been seeing told me she has lots of Mexican and Indian clients who continue to eat spicy food and their babies have no problems. She also told me there was a study that showed babies nursed more when mothers had eaten garlic, apparently because they like the taste.

_________________I'm not asking for utopian dreams...just a little peace in this world. That's a logical thing. - Deee-Lite

I was wondering about trying a sippy cup - has anyone had luck with a 6 month old drinking from a sippy?

You can totally do it! I gave Felix a sippy cup when he was that old. I'd never given him bottles before so it seemed easier to just move right on to a cup. There was definitely a learning curve, but he was drinking out of them well enough pretty quick. it took me a while to find a cup he could easily hold and liked the spout of (i think the handles on both sides kind with silicone sippers or straws worked best for us at first).

Add me to the people who just ate whatever while breastfeeding. I would totally have changed what I ate if it seemed like it actually caused problems, but it never did. Drinking caffeine on the other hand... I tried a couple times and anything stronger than a soy chai latte totally messed up our day. I wish I could say eating whatever foods I wanted kept my kid from becoming a picky eater, but he hit toddlerhood and all of the sudden everything had to be super plain.

_________________Gwyneth Paltrow: "I'm superstitious. Whenever I start a new movie I kill a hobo with a hammer."

Also poopie, I'm happy the video helped you at least a little. It didn't do anything for me. I don't know if I was doing it wrong or what, but I didn't get any more. I have to watch it again I guess and try again.

_________________I'm not asking for utopian dreams...just a little peace in this world. That's a logical thing. - Deee-Lite

I was wondering about trying a sippy cup - has anyone had luck with a 6 month old drinking from a sippy?

I don't know how I missed all this until now. Silas refused to drink from bottles too! Like, flat-out, full-on refused. Never took a feeding from a bottle, even though we tried tons of times and took every advice we ran across. He just wasn't into it. We tried sippies really young too and he'd take a sip and that was it. I think it was the plastic feel that he hated. I remember putting breastmilk in a shotglass when my nipples were raw during one long growth spurt... he did great giving it to him from that! A few times, then quit that too. I wish I had some advice for you, but just commiseration. He's 27 months now and just recently got to the point that he takes most day time milk from a cup (soy & rice milks). He still is quite the nursing addict though.

I've noticed that Lydia is fussier than normal when I eat a lot of raw onion, but that makes sense because I also don't tolerate raw onion well, and neither to do a lot of people in my family. So, I avoid large amounts of raw onion, but I don't worry about small amounts here or there. Other than that, I can eat normally. I've eaten food spicy enough to burn my tongue and my daughter doesn't seem to care!

poopiebitch wrote:

I will say that I do understand the isolation, though. Like others, women where I live just don't breastfeed, so when I nurse in public I get a lot of looks and even some people saying rude things. I was even at Starbucks one time meeting with a friend, I was BFing (with a nursing cover on!) and my husband was sitting on the other side of the cafe. He told me later that one guy started talking about how gross it was that I was breastfeeding in public, and the other people around joined in talking about how I should go home if I had to do that, or just pump and give him a bottle if I'm going to be in public (I wish it were that easy!). Thankfully I've gotten a few supportive comments over the months, too, which make it easier to handle the stupid stuff.

Ridiculous! With a nursing cover even! I feel very lucky to live in an area where I just don't need a nursing cover because so many women nurse.

I live in the Seattle, Washington area. I'd say from being out and about that where I live/lived ( I recently moved ) I see mothers nursing kids/babies out in public. Not scads of them but enough to have felt pretty comfortable doing it myself and enough to have felt weird bottle feeding. I'm just glad I'm out of that stage and I don't need to worry about it ( for myself ) anymore.

Others have brought up a good point about food and breastmilk. If you're already used to eating whatever great, extra garlic probably won't be a bother to a nursing baby at all. I was always hyper sensitive to it though because I didn't want to do a THING to increase my chances of messing with my supply or messing with baby's acceptance of my supply. So just ignore what I said about not eating garlic! ;-)

Do you guys notice a difference in age of mother and likelihood of breastfeeding? I had a stretch where I was in and out of the WIC office a bunch, and almost all the mothers with infants I saw were about my age(early 20s), and I saw plenty of bottles but no breastfeeding. There was even a sign about breastfeeding--something like "This is a safe place to breastfeed; please ask us for assistance if you wish for a private spot to nurse" but nope, never. And when I went into the nursing store, the women customers all seemed to be at least five years older than me.PS you guys are making me crave garlic.

It's hard to tell. I haven't seen anyone breastfeeding in public here, ever. The breastfeeding group I go to skews older, but that probably has more to do with older moms being financially secure enough to not be at work on a weekday morning.

Do you guys notice a difference in age of mother and likelihood of breastfeeding? I had a stretch where I was in and out of the WIC office a bunch, and almost all the mothers with infants I saw were about my age(early 20s), and I saw plenty of bottles but no breastfeeding. There was even a sign about breastfeeding--something like "This is a safe place to breastfeed; please ask us for assistance if you wish for a private spot to nurse" but nope, never. And when I went into the nursing store, the women customers all seemed to be at least five years older than me.PS you guys are making me crave garlic.

and that illustrates why I was embarrassed to bottle feed my babies in public. People notice, women notice....other mothers notice. They notice and form an opinion about it, good or bad. I don't mean to single Hapax Legomenon out but this was a good example of why I'd always feel like I had to explain myself and justify myself for not breastfeeding. But then I didn't want to explain too much because then I'd be delving into way too much description about my breasts....weird. God the whole situation was just weird......

and that illustrates why I was embarrassed to bottle feed my babies in public. People notice, women notice....other mothers notice. They notice and form an opinion about it, good or bad. I don't mean to single Hapax Legomenon out but this was a good example of why I'd always feel like I had to explain myself and justify myself for not breastfeeding. But then I didn't want to explain too much because then I'd be delving into way too much description about my breasts....weird. God the whole situation was just weird......

Yeah, but a lot of us are looking because we want to find someone doing what we're doing so we don't feel like we have to explain or justify ourselves. When I see someone bottle feeding a baby I don't think much of it (I mean, really, even if I was looking to judge how do I know they aren't giving pumped breast milk anyway); it's just what the vast majority of people I know do (for various reasons that I have no judgment on). When I see someone bf'ing in public I don't think, "ah, finally a superior mother being like myself," I just feel a little less alone.

_________________Gwyneth Paltrow: "I'm superstitious. Whenever I start a new movie I kill a hobo with a hammer."

and that illustrates why I was embarrassed to bottle feed my babies in public. People notice, women notice....other mothers notice. They notice and form an opinion about it, good or bad.

What do you mean by "form an opinion about it"?

I mean "form an opinnion" like, it is better to breastfeed, or younger uneducated mothers bottle feed or only vain mothers bottle feed ( not saying that is what YOU were saying...that last little gem is what my mom would always say ).... or older more financially secure mothers breastfeed...whatever that opinion may be, an opinion is formed about the mother doing the breast or bottle feeding. I didn't want anyone to look at me feeding my baby a bottle in public and think "Oh, that woman is giving her baby a bottle, she must be...*fill in the blank*...." . I grew up in an area where the opinions about women who bottle fed were not good. My birthing classes and my doula and lactation consultant I went to ( and to a small extent my midwife ) backed that up.

I notice breast vs bottle but all I think is "aww! cute baby!". Or "yay! I'm not the only one with a boob out!".

But I've bottle fed one child and breast fed the other, and my kids defy all the "rules". My formula fed kid was never sick and is super smart. My breastfed baby was very sick for months as an infant and is speech delayed. Breastmilk is great, but not magical.

I mean "form an opinnion" like, it is better to breastfeed, or younger uneducated mothers bottle feed or only vain mothers bottle feed ( not saying that is what YOU were saying...that last little gem is what my mom would always say ).... or older more financially secure mothers breastfeed...whatever that opinion may be, an opinion is formed about the mother doing the breast or bottle feeding. I didn't want anyone to look at me feeding my baby a bottle in public and think "Oh, that woman is giving her baby a bottle, she must be...*fill in the blank*...." . I grew up in an area where the opinions about women who bottle fed were not good. My birthing classes and my doula and lactation consultant I went to ( and to a small extent my midwife ) backed that up.

I was not saying that older financially secure moms are more likely to breastfeed, just speculating that perhaps they are more likely to be able to stay home once they have children, and attend a breastfeeding group on a weekday morning. Maybe there are lots of breastfeeding moms in their teens and early twenties in my community; I just haven't seen them out in public.

I had a beer this afternoon and it was totally not worth it. It tasted good I guess, but Walter has been so whiny and miserable all afternoon (I tried giving him a bottle of previously pumped milk instead of the boob, but he wouldn't take it). So I won't be doing that again.

huh....so what you all are telling me is that you guys are not as harshly judgmental as the small town religious group I grew up in? Weird....imagine that! Now how lovely would that have been for me to be able to feed my baby a bottle in public without thinking everyone was judging me. Because you're right, they probably weren't.

I can't believe people would be that rude about breast feeding in public. Awful! My twin sister feels uncomfortable with doing it in public, now I know why. Actually she claims I said it was "gross" before she had her baby but the instance she was referring to was a friend of a friend changing her baby on a restaurant table that I was then expected to eat off of without wiping it down and then breastfeeding, and obviously it wasn't the bf-ing I had a problem with!

Poopie- yay for small victories with pumping. I understand though, since i stopped working, i haven't pumped, unless i missed a feeding, i could never get a decent pump on.

The little man never took a bottle after i went to work- it was... special. My husband used a dropper or a shot glass to give him breat milk when he was very little and somwwhere between three and four months he started to give him a sippy cup. We used the avent ones. however, he still had to help him a fair bit, i wasn't around for it, so i am not sure how that happened. We also started to give him sips from a regular cup around 6 months (water) and now he drinks from a cup in the house and a sippy when we are out and about.

I got both my children to drink out of a cup* before they used sippie cups and while it was quite messy at first, by the time they were 1 they were little pros about it. For some random reason they now both, at 8 and 6, like to use sippy cups...go figure.

* not because I'm so cool, just because I was too overwhelmed to be able to figure out which sippy cup to use...way too many choices! So until I figured out what cup to get, I let them drink out of a small glass cup I had in the cupboard.